This is a passive J bass. It was a toss up between a low end Sadowsky and this. I think I made the correct decision. No need for batteries, great honky Jazz tone and sounds great.
It is really well built, with great tolerances, no obvious problems out of the box, and needs very little setup.
Shipping wasn't too bad. The bass was protected, but the actual bass box wasn't sealed with tape so it sort of fell out when I unpacked it. Not so good.
This is absolutely worth the money, and I will be getting another Sire in the future.